Artificial Interruptions
by Roguie
Summary: SARAH accepted Zane's presence there with Jo far too easily.  What happened the first night Jo tried to bring him home?


Title: Artificial Interruptions

Author: Roguie/ SunSpecOps/ Danae Bowen

Fandom: Eureka

Characters: Jo/Zane, S.A.R.A.H.

Rating: T

Spoilers: Up through Glimpse at least

Summary: SARAH accepted Zane's presence far too easily. What happened the first night Jo tried to bring him home?

Disclaimer: Eureka quite obviously doesn't belong to me, I just like to borrow the characters and mutate their inner voices. Please don't sue, my house is small, my car is useless and my dogs are pains in the arse, but they're all I have.

A/N: Even though I promised myself no more one shots until this massive multi chapter Zane/Jo I'm working on is finished, I've got 20 pages down so I cheated a little. This one is less than 1500 words, so it doesn't count right?

~~~E~~~

"I'm sorry, Jo, but he is not on the approved visitor list. Sheriff Carter would not appreciate me allowing just anybody to enter."

Jo sighed, raising her eyes to the sky. "I understand that S.A.R.A.H., but I also understand that you've allowed him in in the past; you can do so again."

S.A.R.A.H.'s voice seemed almost patronizing as she raised her dim lights. "I know I have, Jo, but that was under Zoë Carter's instruction and at seven in the evening. It is currently two twenty four in the morning, and he was accosting you in the doorway."

"He wasn't…!" Jo paused when her voice broke. She felt like screaming, but instead she took a deep breath, steadied her rapidly beating heart and forced her temper under control. A moment later, voice calm, she continued the argument. "He wasn't accosting me, S.A.R.A.H. We were," she cleared her throat, "Enjoying ourselves."

"I fail to see how slamming someone into a defenceless doorframe and then breaking their outer epidermal layer could be considered enjoyable."

"You need to get out more, S.A.R.A.H."

"Not helping!" Jo hissed, frustration taking over.

Zane's teeth clicked together sharply, his entire body stiffening further as a jab of electricity flowed through him. "Hey!" he glared at the house from his prone position on the floor.

"Really not helping!"

S.A.R.A.H.'s lights took on a reddened hue while Zane managed to look convincingly chastised. Jo sighed, raising her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose.

The night had started out so well. Zane had picked up take away from Café Diem, and they'd disappeared out to their favourite secluded location. For a town full of scientists, one would think the planetarium would have a better turn out, instead, they watched the light show in the dark, almost deserted auditorium, the full 3d holographic display taking their breath away. As usual, they missed the end of the show when their attention turned to each other, but Wilson Johnston didn't mind, not when they'd been the only people since the last meteorite shower to have bothered paying him any kind of attention.

Loyalty bought his silence, and true to his word, Doctor Johnston hadn't breathed a mention of Zane and Jo's nocturnal activities. Instead, every few nights he'd swing the doors inward, fire up his machines and turn away as the lovers found a moment of quiet happiness.

His silence didn't come unwarranted, however. When a week had passed and nobody in town was the wiser, Doctor Johnston found his security level at Global Dynamics inexplicably raised and a fully equipped astronomy lab was assigned to him. Though nobody could explain the work order that appeared in the requisition office, apparently already approved and signed off on by the director of GD, nobody questioned the machinery ordered and installed in Doctor Johnston's lab.

The doctor, meanwhile, accepted the fact that through his silence he'd made some very powerful friends in high places.

That was how Zane and Jo found themselves escorted after the show to the dome behind the planetarium. The dome housed Doctor Johnston's off site laboratory, and that night they were introduced to a magnifying moon roof that brought every star in the heavens down to their reach. It was how they found themselves making love slowly under the glow of stars the size of the sun sparkling over them.

Afterwards, they'd eaten their meal and drank their vinspressos, kept warm by the miracle that was Vincent's take away containers. They laid on their backs as they watched the cosmos pass literally in front of their eyes, sometimes talking, more often than not enjoying their own silence. Long hours had passed before Zane urged Jo onto the back of his bike, making his way across the sleeping town, taking her back to S.A.R.A.H.

They'd meant it to be just a goodnight kiss, perhaps a last kiss as Jo reminded him that this couldn't happen again, but they found neither of them were ready to let go.

The second their lips met, their hearts stalled painfully in their chests as beats were skipped and lives spun quietly out of control. When their hearts kicked back in, Jo found herself wrapped around Zane, her legs tight around his waist as he lifted her from his bike and spun her towards S.A.R.A.H. She held him to her without mercy, their lips feasting from one another as if they were each other's dying meal. Teeth nipped skin when they came apart for much needed gasps of air, fingers groped soft flesh and wound into short hair, nails dug into thick arm muscle and toned arse as they stumbled blindly into S.A.R.A.H.'s entrance way, missing the last step, slamming into her door.

Zane's teeth bit into Jo's shoulder, breaking flesh, drawing blood and a breathy cry from Jo's lips that he would do anything to repeat.

"S.A.R.A.H., door!" Jo managed to grind out, gasping as the door swung inwards, knocking her off balance.

Without warning, Jo found herself separated from Zane, their bodies ripped away from one another, both hitting the ground roughly. Zane, however, was pulled away from her, and with a cry of pain and consternation was pinned to the floor by S.A.R.A.H.'s defence system.

Now, as Zane recovered from S.A.R.A.H.'s ungentle tasing but remained trapped in her security field, Jo was left arguing with a house in frustration.

"Okay, let's try this again. S.A.R.A.H., do I or do I not live here?"

"Of course you live here, Jo. Where else would you have gone after Zane Donovan set fire to your newly constructed house…"

Jo waved her hand quickly, cutting off the house. "Ah! None of that! Since I live here and am an adult, I have the right to invite over whomever I want, regardless of your accepted visitor list, and Sheriff Carter's personal opinion, correct?"

There was a pregnant pause as S.A.R.A.H. considered Jo's words carefully. "You are correct, Jo. I apologise if I've overstepped my parameters."

Jo sighed in relief. "Okay, good. S.A.R.A.H., add Zane to your accepted visitors list, immediately, and for God's sake, in the future be nice to him."

"Of course, Jo."

"Um, ladies?"

Jo glanced down at Zane, still pressed heavily into the floor.

"Little help here?"

"S.A.R.A.H.?"

"Apologies, Zane Donovan. I forgot to disengage the force field generator while I was updating my visitor reference file."

"Yeah, that's okay. Just let me up."

"Of course." Pause. "Zane."

Jo rolled her eyes as she lowered a hand to help Zane up from the floor. They turned together towards the stairs, Zane groaning and reaching for his back before they were halfway up.

"You so owe me a massage, Lupo."

Jo snorted. "Consider yourself lucky that the house tased you and not me. She uses a lower setting."

Zane chuckled. "If a massage is out of the question, then how about one of S.A.R.A.H.'s infamous showers?"

Jo grinned. "That can be arranged."

"Together?"

"Pig."

"Aw, c'mon, JoJo, you know you love it."

She knew he was right. Regardless of the changes in him, Zane was for the most part still Zane. His blue eyes, his calm voice, his electrifying touch, all designed to bring her helplessly to her knees. Even though this would be their last night together, if she had anything to say about it, he was right. She still loved him. It. Them together.

She sighed. Some things not even time could change.

~~~Fin


End file.
